Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) - A way of thinking about the knowledge teachers need to understand to integrate [[#|technology]] effectively in their classrooms
- Comprises knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology, as well as the interaction between these components
Why is integrating technology so hard?
- [[#|Technology]] as a "wicked problem" where there has to be the right combination of technology, teaching approaches, and instructional goals
- Requirements that are incomplete, contradictory and changing
- Solutions that are difficult to realize and recognize because of complex interdependencies and contexts
- A process of utilizing expert knowledge to design solutions that honor the complexities of the situations and the contexts presented by learners and classrooms.
- No definitive solution to a technology integration problem.
- Each issue raised by technology integration presents an ever-evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints.
TPACK as a framework for thinking about the complex problems posed by technology integration
Introducing the TPACK Framework
Three core components: Content, Pedagogy & Technology. It is the interactions, between and among these components, playing out differently across diverse contexts, that account for the wide variations seen in [[#|educational technology]] integration.
Understanding arises from multiple interactions among content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge.
1) understanding the representations of concepts using technologies
2) pedagogical techniques that [[#|apply]] technologies in constructive ways to teach content in differentiated ways according to students’ learning needs
3) knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress conceptual challenges
4) knowledge of students’ prior content-related understanding and epistemological assumptions
5) knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing understanding to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.
Technology knowledge (T or TK)
is knowledge about standard technologies such as [[#|books]] and chalk and blackboard, as well as more advanced technologies such as the Internet and digital video. Includes:
- skills required to operate particular technologies.
- knowledge of operating systems and computer hardware, as well as the ability to use standard [[#|software]] tools including web-browsers, email programs, and word-processors.
- basic knowledge about installing and upgrading hardware and software, maintaining data archives, and staying up to date about ever-changing technologies.
- The ability to recognize when [[#|information technology]] can assist or impede the achievement of a goal, and to continually adapt to changes in informational technology.
- Technology knowledge evolves over a lifetime, consisting of an open-ended interaction with technology.
Content Knowledge
· Is knowledge about the actual subject matter that is to be learned or taught · Teachers must know and understand the subjects teach including: knowledge of central facts, concepts, theories, and procedures within a given field · Teachers must also understand the nature of knowledge and inquiry in different fields · Teachers who do not have these understandings can misrepresent those subjects to their [[#|students]]
Pedagogical Knowledge
· Is a deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning how it encompasses overall educational purposes · It is a generic form of knowledge that is involved in all issues of [[#|student]] learning, classroom, management, [[#|lesson plan]] development and implementation, and [[#|student]] evaluation · A [[#|teacher]] with deep pedagogical knowledge understands how [[#|students]] construct knowledge and acquire skills
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
· When looking at how pedagogy and content relate to each other, the key question is how disciplines differ from each other and whether disciplines can or should be taught through the same instructional strategies · Donald came up with six general thinking processes of expert student thinking that occur in different disciplines · Description of context, conditions, facts, functions, assumptions, and goals · Selection of relevant information and critical elements · Representation organizing, illustrating, and modifying elements and relations · Inference drawing conclusions, forming propositions · Synthesis composing wholes from parts, filling gaps, developing course of action · Verification confirming accuracy and results, judging validity using feedback · While these six processes can apply to any discipline, some disciplines might emphasize other processes and under emphasize others · Donald argues that this has significant implications for instruction and offers a strong critique of content neutral, simplistic one size fits all educational strategies · For teachers to successfully understand pedagogical knowledge means that teachers interpret subject matter, find multiple ways to represent it, and adapt instructional materials to alternative conceptions and students’ prior knowledge
Technological Content Knowledge
an understanding of the manner in which technology and content influence and constrain one another
awareness that subject matter can be changed by the [[#|application]] of technology
understanding which technologies are [[#|best]] suited for certain subject matter, and how content dictates/changes technology
computing technology has changed the field of mathematics: simulations, representation, graphical manipulation
technology and pedagogy mutually afford and constrain one another
Moodle’s method of structuring online conversations: students must make their own post before they can see any other postings; students must come up with their own ideas/responses without having been influenced by other students’ posts
pedagogy advanced through brainstorming, allowing for ideas to flow freely
technological pedagogical knowledge is an understanding of how teaching and learning changes when particular technologies are used
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge
the intersection of all three bodies of knowledge, understanding how these forms of knowledge interact with each other
an understanding of how to represent concepts with technologies
pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content
knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help students learn
knowledge of students’ prior knowledge
how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge
Teaching as a Creative and Flexible Navigation of the TPACK Landscape
expert teachers consciously and unconsciously simultaneously integrate technology, pedagogy and content every time they teach
Every time they have to plan a lesson that combines technology, pedagogy, and content, there is no single solution that will apply uniformly across teachers, courses, districts, or approaches
Expert teachers must flexibly navigate through the three elements of content, pedagogy,and technology through specific contexts.
So teachers must design lessons that fit their unique learners, goals, and situations.
Teachers need a deep understanding of teaching with technology.
“the separation of teaching into content, pedagogy and technology is not necessarily straightforward, or even something that good teachers do. Instead, we believe when technology integration is working well, the system is in a state of “dynamic equilibrium” (Koehler & Mishra, 2008), such that “a change in any one of the factors has to be ‘‘compensated’’ by changes in the other two (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1029).”
Teachers as Creative Designers of Curriculum
TPACK framework: a development of skill, competencies, and knowledge that go beyond disciples, technological and pedagogical techniques.
An integration of all knowledge bases
“teaching is “more than just the ability to use sign systems to communicate some conventional meaning, because… literacy should be 11 reserved for some state of agency in which one can control, even manipulate, how signs are used.” (Myers, p. 582).” as sited by (Mishra and Kochler, 2008)
Reasons for supporting this new approach to teacher knowledge
emphasizes the manipulation of signs and symbols (lang., images, equations,etc.)
importance of teacher agency –the conscious manipulation of signs for educative or communicative purposes
teachers are able to undermine or challenge these signs, saying that the sign systems are not sacred, but that are human constructions that teachers can design and redesign for their particular context
emphasizes on teacher expertise in subversion since teachers need to be fluent in order for them to know which they can bend, break, and when to leave it alone.
Emphasizes on teacher creativity
“role of the teacher as a producer (as designer) and not consumers (users) of technology” (Mishra and Kochler, 2008)
Conclusion
Teaching disciplines are always evolving and changing. Teachers need to be knowledgeable and flexible in the ways they integrate technology with their teaching practices and content.
Teachers play a critical role in evaluating the effectiveness of technologies and must be creative in the manner in which they apply technology across disciplines. "Thinking outside the box."
Exploring Cross Disciplinary Boundaries with Theo Jansen’s Sand Creatures
Theo Jansen is a designer and artist who explores the idea of motion by creating "Sand Creatures".
These creatures are built out of light weight materials and are usually 6-10 ft tall, they move around the beach on padded feet just through the force of the wind.
"the boundaries between art and engineering exist only in our minds"
REFERENCES
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2008). Introducing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. p.1-16.
(Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association New York City, March 24–28, 2008)
by Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler
The Makebates
Robert Alfonso, Meghan Curry, Adam Lasnier, Kimberly Nguyen, Cecilia Shang
Table of Contents
- Comprises knowledge of content, pedagogy, and technology, as well as the interaction between these components
Why is integrating technology so hard?
- [[#|Technology]] as a "wicked problem" where there has to be the right combination of technology, teaching approaches, and instructional goals- Requirements that are incomplete, contradictory and changing
- Solutions that are difficult to realize and recognize because of complex interdependencies and contexts
- A process of utilizing expert knowledge to design solutions that honor the complexities of the situations and the contexts presented by learners and classrooms.
- No definitive solution to a technology integration problem.
- Each issue raised by technology integration presents an ever-evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints.
TPACK as a framework for thinking about the complex problems posed by technology integration
Introducing the TPACK Framework
Three core components: Content, Pedagogy & Technology. It is the interactions, between and among these components, playing out differently across diverse contexts, that account for the wide variations seen in [[#|educational technology]] integration.
Understanding arises from multiple interactions among content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge.
1) understanding the representations of concepts using technologies
2) pedagogical techniques that [[#|apply]] technologies in constructive ways to teach content in differentiated ways according to students’ learning needs
3) knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress conceptual challenges
4) knowledge of students’ prior content-related understanding and epistemological assumptions
5) knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing understanding to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.
Technology knowledge (T or TK)
is knowledge about standard technologies such as [[#|books]] and chalk and blackboard, as well as more advanced technologies such as the Internet and digital video. Includes:- skills required to operate particular technologies.
- knowledge of operating systems and computer hardware, as well as the ability to use standard [[#|software]] tools including web-browsers, email programs, and word-processors.
- basic knowledge about installing and upgrading hardware and software, maintaining data archives, and staying up to date about ever-changing technologies.
- The ability to recognize when [[#|information technology]] can assist or impede the achievement of a goal, and to continually adapt to changes in informational technology.
- Technology knowledge evolves over a lifetime, consisting of an open-ended interaction with technology.
Content Knowledge
· Is knowledge about the actual subject matter that is to be learned or taught· Teachers must know and understand the subjects teach including: knowledge of central facts, concepts, theories, and procedures within a given field
· Teachers must also understand the nature of knowledge and inquiry in different fields
· Teachers who do not have these understandings can misrepresent those subjects to their [[#|students]]
Pedagogical Knowledge
· Is a deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning how it encompasses overall educational purposes· It is a generic form of knowledge that is involved in all issues of [[#|student]] learning, classroom, management, [[#|lesson plan]] development and implementation, and [[#|student]] evaluation
· A [[#|teacher]] with deep pedagogical knowledge understands how [[#|students]] construct knowledge and acquire skills
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
· When looking at how pedagogy and content relate to each other, the key question is how disciplines differ from each other and whether disciplines can or should be taught through the same instructional strategies· Donald came up with six general thinking processes of expert student thinking that occur in different disciplines
· Description of context, conditions, facts, functions, assumptions, and goals
· Selection of relevant information and critical elements
· Representation organizing, illustrating, and modifying elements and relations
· Inference drawing conclusions, forming propositions
· Synthesis composing wholes from parts, filling gaps, developing course of action
· Verification confirming accuracy and results, judging validity using feedback
· While these six processes can apply to any discipline, some disciplines might emphasize other processes and under emphasize others
· Donald argues that this has significant implications for instruction and offers a strong critique of content neutral, simplistic one size fits all educational strategies
· For teachers to successfully understand pedagogical knowledge means that teachers interpret subject matter, find multiple ways to represent it, and adapt instructional materials to alternative conceptions and students’ prior knowledge
Technological Content Knowledge
Technological Pedagogical Knowledge
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Teaching as a Creative and Flexible Navigation of the TPACK Landscape
- expert teachers consciously and unconsciously simultaneously integrate technology, pedagogy and content every time they teach
- Every time they have to plan a lesson that combines technology, pedagogy, and content, there is no single solution that will apply uniformly across teachers, courses, districts, or approaches
- Expert teachers must flexibly navigate through the three elements of content, pedagogy,and technology through specific contexts.
- So teachers must design lessons that fit their unique learners, goals, and situations.
- Teachers need a deep understanding of teaching with technology.
- “the separation of teaching into content, pedagogy and technology is not necessarily straightforward, or even something that good teachers do. Instead, we believe when technology integration is working well, the system is in a state of “dynamic equilibrium” (Koehler & Mishra, 2008), such that “a change in any one of the factors has to be ‘‘compensated’’ by changes in the other two (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1029).”
Teachers as Creative Designers of CurriculumConclusion
Exploring Cross Disciplinary Boundaries with Theo Jansen’s Sand Creatures
http://www.strandbeest.com/
http://sodaplay.com/
http://www.polleverywhere.com/my/polls#!/my/polls
REFERENCES
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2008). Introducing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. p.1-16.
(Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association New York City, March 24–28, 2008)
http://www.strandbeest.com/
http://sodaplay.com